Georgia Tech defense owes debt to offense

By Special

For the AJC

CHAPEL HILL, N.C. -- In light of Saturday’s 30-24 win at North Carolina, in which they got to watch 57 of 69 plays in one extended stretch from the solace of the sideline, the members of the Georgia Tech defense just might treat the ball-hogging offense to a steak dinner.

“I don’t eat beef, though, so we’ll probably make it a chicken dinner,” B-back Anthony Allen said.

Whatever. Whether potato, tomato, poultry, sirloin or salmon, the Yellow Jackets will feast in knowing that collective effort takes different forms. After allowing 222 yards of offense in the game’s first 20 minutes, the Jackets regrouped when given the chance. The first opportunity came when the offense consumed the final 10 minutes, 36 seconds of the second quarter. That, of course, was followed by the 20-minute respite of halftime and the offense’s receipt of the second-half kickoff.

The defense, therefore, had about an hour of real time to ponder some adjustments -- particularly in how it intended to disrupt the timing of Pope High School graduate T.J. Yates, the Tar Heels’ quarterback.

“One of the big things it does is it gives us thinking time to sort things out,” defensive coordinator Al Groh said. “When you’re right back on the field, sometimes you don’t have a chance to communicate to the players what were going to call the second half and how we have going to do it. A lot of times, if you wait until the half, it’s too late. We were able to get some things done during the second quarter and then confirm those in greater detail at the half.”

In other words, circumstance provided a classroom opportunity for Groh, who works on the sideline because proximity facilitates communication with the entire unit. There’s no right way to do these things, but for the Jackets, it represents a change from the methodology of Groh’s predecessors, press-box denizens Dave Wommack and Jon Tenuta.

For the sixth consecutive game, Tech allowed an individual opponent to rush for more than 100 yards. This time, Johnny White was the perpetrator.

But when the Jackets pounced on a third-quarter fumble and eventually claimed the lead, they blunted White’s impact.

The Jackets recovered two fumbles and forced two punts on consecutive defensive stands before they took the field with six minutes left and a 30-24 lead.

UNC went on a 13-play drive, a development that sounds ominous by itself. But the Tar Heels had to work for everything they got, their hopes briefly derailed by Izaan Cross’ sack of Yates. They never got past the Tech 45.

“I was hoping they wouldn’t score,” Tech A-back Orwin Smith said. “Because I don’t like overtime, and I hate losing by one.